Autograph letter, signed ("Alix"), Darmstadt 24 March 1892, to Dr. Sell

Darmstadt, 1892. 4 pages in German on recto and verso of a bifolium of mourning stationery. 1 vols. 12mo. Usual folds (with strengthening to tips inside). Near fine. With transcription and translation. 4 pages in German on recto and verso of a bifolium of mourning stationery. 1 vols. 12mo. The future Empress of Russia, Alexandra, Alix Viktoria, writes to Dr. Sell expressing her grief at the loss of her father, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, a fortnight earlier. Alix, or Alice Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice, was born in 1870, and after the death of her mother in 1878, Alix was protected by her grandmother Queen Victoria, who chose the girl's tutors and invited here often to England; Alix married Nicholas II in 1894 and was known as Alexandra Feodorovna. She was much under the sway of Rasputin, and perished with her children during the Bolshevik Revolution.
In this letter, she acknowledges a letter of condolence from a former tutor and writes that she is determined to carry on, and notes the heavy responsibilities now falling upon the shoulders of her brother Ernst, who succeded to the throne. She signs herself Ihre treue Schülerin und Freundin, your devoted student and friend, Alix.

A very rare autograph. Provenance: Dr. Herbert Ernest Klingelhofer (1915-2015), collector and former President of the Manuscript Society; bought at Stargardt 17 May 1960